In the prior art, film segments storing images are mounted to slide mounts to form a slide. In this configuration, the film segments may be readily manipulated by handling the slide mount; for example, in transport and in positioning the film segment for imaging.
When optically or digitally printing from film mounted in a slide mount, several difficulties may be encountered. For example, the area to be printed or scanned for printing may have to be cropped to account for the space taken up physically by the slide mount. In performing cropping, a spacing tolerance is to be used to take into account the location of the film and the image on the film area with respect to the dimensions of the slide mount.
A second problem encountered in the prior art occurs when the film is held flat for scanning or printing. The presence of the slide mount retaining the film may interfere with such scanning or printing, and so the operations of scanning and printing must be modified to compensate for the slide mount to prevent such interference.
Another problem encountered in the prior art arises when the slide mount is damaged or worn away through use. The film segment may store information thereupon, for example, using magnetic strips with magnetically encoded information, or a magnetic coating on the film segment itself. In preparing the slide, the information may be read from the film segment, and then encoded on the slide mount, which is to be subsequently decoded and used during a scanning, printing, or viewing operation. Damage or wear of the slide mount may damage the information thereon, thus making the information inaccessible or even lost with respect to the slide mount. Without such information, it may be difficult or impossible to conduct the scanning, printing, or viewing operation.
Another problem is the lack of adaptability of prior art slides for allowing the digital mixing of information and images from the slides.
Accordingly, a need exists for a system for and method of compensating for the space taken up physically by the slide mount in performing printing from the slide during a cropping operation. In addition, a need exists for preventing the slide mount from physically interfering with scanning or printing from the film. Also, a need exists for a slide which is less susceptible to a loss of information encoded on the associated slide mount due to damage or wear of the slide mount. Further, a need exists for a slide which allows the digital mixing of information and images from the slide for subsequent printing therefrom.